Reverse The Curse Movie Review & Cast Interviews

I mentioned in a recent post that I’ve been a big fan of David Duchovny for almost 30 years. He just launched a podcast in May, Fail Better with David Duchovny, and last month I was listening to his interview with Gabor Maté where he talked about the novel that he wrote and subsequently turned into a movie, Bucky F*cking Dent. So imagine my surprise when the very next day, I received an email with the trailer for that very film, Reverse the Curse, and an invitation to the virtual press junket! I had the opportunity to screen the film in advance and interview two of its stars, Jason Beghe and Santo Fazio, and it’s been a treat to talk with such talented people about a film that is truly unique. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and I somehow managed to walk away from a film about estrangement and death feeling uplifted.

On that Fail Better episode, Duchovny explains how Gabor Maté’s book The Myth of Normal struck a chord with him because of the premise of Reverse the Curse, which follows a father named Marty (Played by Duchovny) and his adult son, Ted (Played by Logan Marshall-Green) as they attempt to mend their estranged relationship after Marty is diagnosed with cancer. Duchovny sent the film to Maté, who liked it so much that he’ll be joining Duchovny on the press tour; and during their conversation on the episode, Duchovny shared that it was a terrifying experience in his own life, his infant daughter becoming sick, that ended up inspiring one of the main threads in Marty and Ted’s relationship. This was also mentioned in the Director’s Statement for the film, as Duchovny discussed the psychological repercussions that remained after his daughter recovered and how he explored that in writing this story:

“What my characters go through in this movie, sometimes hilariously, and sometimes tearfully, is that even though we can’t change the ending to our stories, or even the facts of what happened, we can change the way we tell them, we can change perspective through the power of storytelling, of art. We can change our perspective to one that embraces the loser in all of us—-a perspective of love and empathy for our fellow doomed human. And that’s what I set about to do with my own story here, the story of my daughter and me, to transform it from one of trauma and fear into one of love, humor, and art.”
-David Duchovny, Director’s Statement for Reverse the Curse

This wasn’t the only thing Reverse the Curse that was inspired from Duchovny’s life. At the beginning of this movie, Marty and Ted are shown having a conversation over the phone while watching the Yankees game. During my interview with Jason Beghe, Duchovny’s lifelong friend and co-star in this film, he made an offhand comment about this being a regular occurrence in their youth. “David and I, when we were in high school, we used to watch the Yankee games together on the phone,” recalled Beghe.

It was Beghe’s trust in Duchovny as a friend that made him want to be involved with the project. “David is my oldest friend, you know, and if he says, ‘Will you?’, The answer is gonna be yes, no matter what,” Beghe told me during our conversation. “He’s an incredible writer. And he’s an incredible thinker. And he’s a truly, you know, a Renaissance man, which is pretty rare. I trust him as an artist and as a director and as a friend.”

Friendship is a theme through Reverse the Curse, both onscreen and off. Both Beghe and Santo Fazio mentioned separately that working with each other was one of their favorite parts of making the movie. “Jason and Evan [Handler] are just fantastic, they’re just really on their game,” Fazio told me. “They were just super witty and funny off the cuff, and it just relaxed everything. When people are making you laugh that way, it just eases the whole set.”

And they also made an effort to put their youngest co-star, Gavin Donaghy, at ease during a memorable scene in the film where the young actor plays a paper boy with some very strong opinions on the Red Sox. “We had to work with him a little bit. It took a couple of takes, you know, because he was a little nervous. But that was in itself fun also,” Fazio chuckled. “Just helping him along was also very enjoyable, to work with him and loosen him up and make him comfortable. So that was kind of special to have a youngster on the set like that.”

Reverse the Curse unfolds with son Ted reluctantly moving in with dad Marty to help take care of him after a cancer diagnosis. As Ted is caring for his ailing father, he gets to know Marty’s quirky “Death Specialist”, Marianna, played by Stephanie Beatriz, and notices a pattern: Every time that the Red Sox lose a game, Marty becomes so defeated about his favorite team losing that he just gives up and goes back to bed. Worried about Marty’s health and wanting to keep his strength and morale up, Ted hatches a plan with Marty’s pals, the “Barbershop boys”, and enlists a skeptical Marianna to help trick Marty into thinking the Red Sox are on a winning streak. Newspapers are doctored, TVs are tampered with, and Marty’s friends even create a fake rainstorm in order to make him think the day’s game got rained out. Meanwhile, frustrated writer Ted also becomes fascinated with a unpublished manuscript that Marty wrote – and was about to throw in the fireplace – and begins to learn more about Marty’s past as he reads through it.

What struck me most about this film was the fact that things didn’t play out the way I was expecting. There are a lot of things in the film that are messy, imperfect and unresolved; which fits the story perfectly, because it’s so true to life. Real people don’t solve all their problems in 2 hours, or settle a deep family wound with one conversation. When Marty and Ted interact, there is so much left unsaid, and when the feelings do all spill out, the other doesn’t know how to react. It’s imperfectly handled, with many regrets – but despite it all, their deep love for each other still gets conveyed. It feels so real, and I think so many viewers will see aspects of themselves and their own relationships in how these painful conflicts play out. In a scene where Marty tells Ted about his sickness as a baby – the plot point inspired by Duchovny’s own experience – Duchovny’s acting is so gut-wrenching that it doesn’t feel like a script, it feels like a true moment of unrehearsed, genuine pain. He did an incredible job acting in this film, with a well-rounded performance that showed Marty as a fully fleshed out human, with all the complications and contradictions. You can see the feelings Marty keeps to himself playing across his face – saying things that he instantly regrets, but never being vulnerable enough to admit it. You can tell this is a character Duchovny has intimately inhabited – not just because he took inspiration from his own life, but because he wrote the book, screenplay, and directed it. Duchovny knows this character inside and out, because he not only created it, but also spent so much time in Marty’s mind between writing both the novel and then the screenplay. I think this lent even more depth to the performance, and you can feel it.

Bringing that much nuance to a role requires a light hand. For Fazio, it was all about staying in the moment. He told me that once he knew his character’s motivation, he could navigate the different comedic and dramatic elements of the script by reacting in real time to his chemistry with the ensemble. “Knowing that that’s [the backstory] an underpinning of the character, develop that, then allow yourself to go moment to moment with everyone else,” Fazio explained. “Because I knew that was already established for myself. And I would just let that surface when it needed to surface, you know, it’s there.”

The only real critique I had of the film is that there are a couple of things in the beginning that are too contemporary to be realistic for the ’70s; and I can’t imagine any death doula being as unprofessional as Marianna, although perhaps in the ’70s they would have been less sensitive! However, these are all elements that are purposely lighthearted to serve as the humorous counterpoint to the seriousness of the pain that is conveyed. In fact, what stops this movie from being bleak is that the very real and raw emotions are presented in scenarios that purposely have a touch of magic and whimsy – not to mention a good dose of gallows humor. The only thing in the movie that made me uncomfortable was a line that was intended to illustrate Marty’s bigotry. Marty makes no attempts to better himself because he’s decided that his own life is a losing streak, just like the Red Sox. And yet, what’s sadly obvious to the viewer is how Marty had decided he had already lost before he even stepped up to the plate and attempted to swing.

But it’s actually through all of Marty’s failures that Reverse the Curse conveys the optimistic message that underscores the film: You’re not irredeemable, it’s never too late, and sometimes, the aspects of your life that you are most critical of can end up setting off the butterfly effect that results in something you couldn’t have predicted. It is specifically the circumstances of both Marty’s life and death that end up creating a beautiful and worthwhile legacy. It’s such a hopeful message, and it’s real hope, because it’s not sugarcoated. There isn’t a “Happily ever after” in this movie – and yet, the ending is not sad, either; in fact, it was very touching. What shocks me is that I left the movie feeling that hopefulness, not depressed, and if I were to just read a barebones outline of this movie’s plot, I would have never guessed that. I think that’s a real sign of just how nuanced the acting, writing, and directing all had to be to pull it off. In an era where so many movies have become extremely formulaic, predictable, and feel the need to hit you over the head with ridiculously obvious plot devices, I think Reverse the Curse is a breath of fresh air.

Reverse the Curse is available on demand and in theaters today, June 14th, 2024.